Hits of the year Germany: The annual charts in chords and portions

First place in the annual German album charts is probably not surprising: The 34-year-old American Taylor Swift is in second place with “The Tortured Poets Department”, ahead of Billie Eilish with “Hit Me Hard And Soft” and Linkin Park’s “From Zero ” claim third place.

The 25-year-old Brit Artemas tops the official German single charts from GfK Entertainment in Baden-Baden with “I Like The Way You Kiss Me”.

Ayliva and Apache 207 made it to second place with “Wunder” – ahead of Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” in third place.

But if you read the long lists, you will discover even more interesting things. A few ideas for discussion:

According to GfK Entertainment, “The Tortured Poets Department” has been streamed almost 300 million times and has achieved platinum status. Taylor Swift is the first solo act to have three albums in the top 10 of the annual charts at the same time. “Previously only the band The Alan Parsons Project had achieved this feat in 1978,” said a spokesman. Taylor Swift is also the most streamed artist overall this year with 1.24 billion views.

“I Like The Way You Kiss Me” also achieved platinum status. The song was reportedly streamed more than 157 million times.

Summer hit “Belly Legs Po” not in the top 10

Although the rapper Shirin David landed the official summer hit of 2024 with her song “Bauch Beine Po”, the 29-year-old only made it to number 15 in the annual singles charts. Perhaps a consolation: According to GfK, David scored with the song, which was released at the end of July Entertainment at least the first German-language summer hit by a female act. The song immediately went to the top of the charts and gave her her seventh number one hit – also a record among female solo acts.

20 year old song back in the charts

One place ahead (14) is a hit that is twenty years old: British singer Natasha Bedingfield (43) benefits, among other things, from the fact that her ballad “Unwritten” was heard in the cinema at the beginning of the year. In the romance “Where the Lie Falls” the two main characters sing the song while hanging under a helicopter. “This wave of love is so unbelievable. I just want to say ‘thank you’,” Bedingfield told the German Press Agency at the time on the occasion of the return to the charts.

In general, the number of female acts in the annual charts is increasing. When it comes to albums, the top 10 is reportedly more female than ever before, with seven placements. If you look at the first 100 places, every third (33) goes to a female artist. In 2022 there were 21 albums by female acts, then in 2023 there were 29. The trend is also clear when it comes to singles: while there were 13 songs by female acts in 2022, the number doubled in 2023. Now there are 29.

The 26-year-old musician Ayliva will be there five times. The rapper Apache 207, who is one year older, even achieved six placements, including the joint production “Wunder” in second place.

The escape artist Harry Houdini, who died in 1926, made it into the annual singles charts twice – at least in the form of songs named after him. The version by US rapper Eminem (52) comes in at number 30. The version by Dua Lipa (29) is only five places behind. In the video for Eminem’s “Houdini,” his alter ego Slim Shady steps out of a time capsule and meets today’s Eminem. The British Dua Lipa, in turn, told the dpa that the song was about “recognizing your own value in a situation or in a relationship, being self-confident and knowing when it’s time to go.”

The German Football Association (DFB) named the 80s hit “Major Tom (Totally detached)” as the goal anthem during the European Championship. The song by Peter Schilling (68) made it back into the top 10 for the first time in more than 40 years, where it was last in April 1983. GfK Entertainment announced in the summer that no other song has achieved this again after such a long time. In the annual charts it is at least enough for place 67.

By the way: In the European Championship stadiums, a different song was played after goals by the German national team – “Fire” by Meduza, OneRepublic & Leony. However, the song did not make it into the top 100 of the official annual charts.

Herbert Grönemeyer’s “Time for something to turn around” became the anthem of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The 68-year-old and rapper $oho Bani have now reinterpreted the song. The rap remix climbed the charts for the European Football Championship and reached seventh place in the annual evaluation. The CDU and the Greens also wanted to capitalize on the success – but Grönemeyer forbade them from using the hit for election campaign purposes. Green Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck hummed the catchy melody in a video surrounding his application. He had to delete that.

In keeping with the pre-Christmas season, the good old classics also stand out in the – mind you – annual charts. However, they were counted from calendar week 50 last year. Sales, downloads and streaming from two weeks of Advent in 2023 count. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christma Is You” makes it to number 48. Wham! with “Last Christmas”, followed by Shakin’ Stevens’ “Merry Christmas Everyone” at 77th and Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas” at 91st. Dean Martin is in 94th place with “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow”, three places behind Melanie Thornton’s “Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)”.

Gigi D’Agostino’s hit “L’Amour toujours” also experienced a revival like “Unwritten” – but of a rather inglorious kind – this year. In several incidents, people shouted racist slogans to the tune, the most famous of which occurred at Pentecost on Sylt. But even though some people listened to the original again in this context, the song didn’t make it into the annual charts. “L’amour toujour” was only placed for nine weeks this year, including one week in the top 10, according to a spokesman. That’s not enough for a place in the annual charts, which only go up to 100th place.